The present invention relates generally to collar supports and protectors, and more particularly, to a generally unitary shaped collar protector fabricated or molded from a resilient material such as a plastic which is easy to install and remove from the collar section of a shirt or other garments and which holds and protects the collar in assembled position and prevents the collar from being distorted or wrinkled during all times that the shirt is stored, stacked and/or displayed.
In the storing, packing or stacking of shirts for display, cleaning, inventory and other purposes relating to all clothing, where such shirts have collar sections, the collar sections often become distorted, creased and misshapen. This affects both the appearance of the shirt for display purposes, its presentation to customers by cleaners who launder such shirts, and more importantly affects the utility of the shirt for its regular and ordinary purposes.
Various efforts have been made to overcome these problems as is shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,777,814; 1,876,814; 1,879,918; 2,275,098; 2,518,300; 2,560,684; Norwegian Patent No. 87090 (1956); Sverige Patent No. 160,936 (1957) and Italian Patent No. 620,627 (1961).
In U.S. Pat. No. 1,876,814 a collar support is shown made of a one-piece, generally V-shaped design of stiff cardboard material for attachment under the collar section of a garment and in engagement with the neck portion of the collar so that spaced relatively small wing portions on opposite sides of the centerline of the collar support can be pushed out to engage and overlie the front ends of the collar to hold them from being distorted and wrinkled.
Norwegian Patent No. 87,090 shows a collar support having an arcuate portion which slides under the collar portion of a garment. In the center of the upper edge of the arcuate portion a V-shaped notch is formed. When the collar support slides under the collar, the V-shaped notch will engage the collar button at the neck portion of the collar. The V-shaped notch coacts with a downwardly extending, generally narrow flat member, which is connected at one end to the center of the lower edge of the arcuate portion. At the free end remote therefrom, the flat member has a V-shaped notch which engages the spaced shirt button below the collar button to hold the collar support in assembled position.
Italian Patent No. 620,627 also shows a collar support with a V-shaped notch in the upper edge for engagement with the collar button in the neck portion of the collar to act as an attachment for the collar support shown.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,518,300 and 1,879,918 disclose collar supports having an arcuate portion which slides under the collar portion of a garment. A portion of the collar support is provided with spaced apart cutouts to allow for the formation of tabs which may be positioned over a portion of the collar for protecting same.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,275,098 discloses a collar support having an arcuate portion which slides under the collar portion of a garment. An extending lateral wing is foldable about the arcuate portion to overlie a portion of the collar. The wings have a pair of spaced apart slots through which a portion of the collar may be inserted for securing same.
From the foregoing, there is known a variety of collar protectors constructed for attachment by various means to a collared garment. These designs have a number of disadvantages such as difficulty in assembling of the collar support into its intended configuration, difficulty in manipulating the collar support when attaching to the collar portion of a garment, complexity of removing the collar support and/or time consumption for constructing the collar support and its attachment to a garment. Accordingly, there is the need for improvements in collar supports for use with garments having a collar for the protection of same.